Wire-fence lock.



No. 809,549. PATENTED JAN. 9, 1906. G. W. BEYERLE.

WIRE FENCE LOCK.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 16, 1905.

Httomegs Witnesses I Inventor.

v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 9, 1906.

Application filed February 16, 1905. Serial No. 245,926.

To (all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, GoTTLoB WM. BEYERLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Diego, in the county of San Diego and State of California, have invented a new and useful Wire-Fence Look, of which the following is a specification.

4 This invention relates to looks for connectingcrossed wires, and has been particularly designed for connecting the runner and stay wires of wire fences and is arranged to be conveniently applied to such wires at their points of crossing and then clamped upon the wires so as to rigidly interlock the same and prevent slipping of either wire upon the other wire.

A further object of the invention is to have the lock complete in itself to facilitate its aplication to the wires and also capable of bemg spread under pressure to draw the wires into intimate engagement and to grip the lock u on the wires.

Wit these and other objects in view the present invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, shown in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes in the form, proportion, size, and minor details may be made within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit or'sacrificing any of theadvantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating a pair of crossed wires connected by means of the present lock. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the device as it is originally applied to the wires. Fig. 3 is a similar view after the lock has been gripped upon the wires. Fig. 4 is an elevation looking at the spread ends of the lock. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the lock prior to its application to the wires.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in each and every figure of the drawings.

Referring atfirst more particularly to Fig. 5 of the drawings, it will be seen that the present lock is in the form of a substantially U-shaped metallic clip 1, having its opposite sides pierced by corresponding openings 2, which vary in diameter according to the size of the wires to which the lock is to be aplied. The extremities of the lock are beveled inwardly, as indicated at 3, so as to roduce inwardlyconverged terminals w 'ch form an important part in the spreading of the look, as will be hereinafter. explained. At opposite edges of the back of the lock and midway between its sides are corresponding wire-receiving seats, each seat being made up of a pair of spaced projections 4, extending towardthe front of the lock and having their inner edges converged rearwardly.

In a plying the resent lock it is placed astrad le of one o i the wires of the fence, preferably the runner-wire 5, which is received within the seats formed by the proj ections 4, after which the stay-wire 6 is passed downwardly through the perforations 2, and then some implement or object is placed against the beveled extremities of the lock and a blow or blows are struck against the back of the clip, thereby to spread the latter, as indicated in Fig. 3, and thus grip the sides .of the lock snu ly upon the stay-wire, which is also bent orimked, as at 7, by reason of the runner-wire being forced therea ainst, while at the same time the back of the ock is forced toward the fence and the runner-wire 5 is wedged between the beveled or conver ed sides of the two seats. The lock is hel against horizontal sidewise movement by reason of the stay-wire passing through the perforations 2, and the lock is held against vertical movement by reason of the runner-wire bein received within the seats, wherefore the loc iseffectually held against displacement. By the extremities of the 100 being spread and its back forced inwardly the crossed wires are drawn into snug engagement with one another, the extremities of the lock are gripped upon the staywire, and the runner-wire is wedged in the seats, thereby producing a strong and durable interlocking connection between the two wires at their oint of crossing.

It will here e explained that the sides-or arms of the lock are separated by a space exceeding the diameter or thickness of the wire to be spanned, and the wire-receiving seats 4 are carried by the back of the device independently of its arms, whereby when the arms are displaced from their parallel relation the seats still snugly receive the wire 5, and thereb prevent looseness of said wire longitudina ly of the wire 6 after the device has been secured in place.

From the foregoing descri tion it will be understood that the present evice is formed from a single blankof metal and is entirely complete in itself and therefore may be conveniently applied to the wires without bending the latter and is fixed in place b means of a blow or blows a ainst the bac of the lock in an exceedingly simple and expeditious manner.

Having fully described the invention,what is claimed is- '1. As a new article of manufacture, a lock for crossed wires comprising parallel arms separated by a space greater than the thickness of the member to be spanned and provided with alined openings exceeding the diameter of the member to be received therethrou h, a back connecting the arms at one end 0? the device and the other ends of the arms being free and beveled, said arms capable of being bent at their connection with the back, and a seat carried by the back and openmg in the direction of the open side of the :0 look.

ings exceeding the diameter of the wire to be 2 5 received therethrough, the free ends of the arms bein beveled upon their inner sides, and spaced projections carried by each edge of the back and extending toward the open side of the device, each pair of projections 0 being spaced to snugly receive a W1re, and the arms capable of bein bent apart upon their connections with the ack.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto afiixed my signature 5 in the presence of two witnesses.

GOTTLOB WM. BEYERLE. Witnesses:

A. E. HORTON. H. L. BARROWS. 

